A new great ape (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, May 02, 2013, 23:52 (4223 days ago)

An early arrival on the scene of great apes:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130501132100.htm-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2318361/Fossils-primates-lived-11-9-million-years-ago-suggest-know-evolution-wrong.html-
"Pierolapithecus catalaunicus seemed to use a lot of upright behaviors such as vertical climbing, but not the fully suspensory behaviors we see in great apes alive today," Hammond said. "Today, chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos and gorillas use forelimb-dominated behaviors to swing below branches, but Pierolapithecus catalaunicus didn't have the long, curved finger bones needed for suspension, so those behaviors evolved more recently."
 
Hammond suggests researchers continue searching for fossils to further explain the evolution of the great apes in Africa.
 
"Contrary to popular belief, we're not looking for a missing link," Hammond said. "We have different pieces of the evolutionary puzzle and big gaps between points in time and fossil species. We need to continue fieldwork to identify more fossils and determine how the species are related and how they lived. Ultimately, everything is connected."